Walking Through History

Pompeii is one of those places that truly takes you by surprise. Famous for being buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, this ancient Roman city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and offers an incredibly vivid window into daily life nearly two millennia ago. What struck me most was just how sophisticated and advanced Roman society was, from their urban planning to their public baths and even their “fast food” shops.

Good to Know Before You Go

Beware of fake guides: Always book with reputable tour companies.
No shops inside: Stock up on water and snacks before entering—the nearest shops are just outside the main entrance.
Getting there: The Circumvesuviana train stops at Pompei Scavi Villa dei Misteri station, less than 100 meters from the ruins. Tickets from Sorrento or Naples are affordable, and the journey takes about 30 minutes.

If you want to see Mount Vesuvius as well, public buses and tour operators can take you up the volcano for a different perspective.

Getting There

You can catch a Circumvesuviana train stopping at Pompei Scavi Villa dei Misteri station, from there it's less than 100m to the entrance of Pompeii ruins. A return ticket from Sorrento to the ruins costs just €2.40 each way and takes around 30 minutes from either Sorrento or Naples.

If you'd rather not spend the whole day at Pompeii, you can take the public bus or a tour operator who could take you up to Mount Vesuvius.

Tickets and Tours

Entry to Pompeii costs €16, and you can stay as long as you like—but remember, there’s no re-entry if you leave. Guided tours are highly recommended (around €12 per person) because the site is vast, and a guide can help you discover the most fascinating corners and stories. Alternatively, GPS-guided audio tours are available via apps like Discover Pompeii - Pompei audio tour.

I do recommend you book a tour guide, they can show you the most interesting parts and share a little history and local knowledge, after all, to see the whole of Pompeii it would take you around two full days - it's not a small site! There is tourist information at most train stations, there's one upstairs at the Pompei Scavi Villa dei Misteri station that can organise tours for you.

Stepping Back in Time

The Romans designed a well-organised city, I dare say better than our cities today. They didn't have road names; instead, they had water fountains at intersections. Every fountain had a different sculpture; there are 40 fountains within Pompeii, and these also provided a social centre.

Walking through Pompeii, you’ll find yourself wandering ancient streets lined with bakeries, bars, bathhouses, and even brothels. At its peak, Pompeii was home to 10,000–20,000 people and was a bustling port town filled with entertainment and luxury.

Water ran down the centre of the chariot roads, the stepping stones or pedestrian crossings allowed people to avoid getting their feet wet or covered in waste.

The Romans were masters of urban comfort, water was abundant in Pompeii —public baths, showers in the street, gyms more for sports than bodybuilding, and even heated saunas were part of daily life. After working out, Romans would be massaged by slaves, before visiting the tepidarium, meaning 'luke-warm bathroom', then heading to the Caldarium, meaning 'hot-room', known to us as a sauna.

The heat from a fire would warm the air in the gap under the floor and behind the walls, then the water from the fountain would slowly make its way onto the floor and produce steam. The finale was to visit the frigidarium, meaning 'a cold room', which you can imagine is a cold bath!

A Wealthy City

The main square is surrounded only by important political and religious buildings - no residential houses here. Pompeii was a wealthy city with lavish homes.

To one side of the main square stands the towering entrance to the Eumachia Building, which is believed to be the textile market. Jars of urine were found in the excavation, which was to be used for dyeing and bleaching of textiles. Its founder, Eumachia, a public priestess and daughter of a wool, brick and amphorae trading family, married Marcus Numistrius Fronto, from one of the oldest and most powerful families in Pompeii.

In the remains of some houses, you will still find beautiful wall paintings, the paint would have been applied while the lime plaster was still wet. The red colour comes from a mineral called cinnabar, and the blue colour comes from a mineral called azurite. This was very expensive, and only the wealthy could afford paintings.

Wealthy citizens decorated their homes with colourful frescoes, using the same expensive minerals, which can be seen by peering into courtyards.

The Eruption and Its Legacy

On 24 October 79 AD, that’s 1,945 years ago to be exact, the streets were filled with people. It is speculated that two festivals were going on, a celebration in honour of Emperor Augustus and the city was alive with festivities.

Around midday, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the citizens of Pompeii under volcanic ash. The movement of magma inside the volcano caused earthquakes and tremors. If there were any warnings, the people of Pompeii would not have known what was about to happen; they had just celebrated the god of fire, Vulcan and would probably have associated any rumblings or fire with that of their god. The word volcano wasn’t used until the 1600s.

On that fateful day in 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted violently, burying Pompeii under meters of ash and pumice. That day, the wind was uncharacteristically blowing towards Pompeii, which helped to carry the smoke and ash and block a clear path of escape to the bay and port Pompeii sits upon. These gases can race down the sides of the volcano carrying volcanic debris as fast as 100mph, the pressure hurled molten rocks in the air in all directions, collapsing buildings.

It's thought most people were smothered by ash and gases or the heat caused by the pyroclastic flow, they may also have been hit or crushed by molten rocks or crumbling buildings. The city was lost for centuries, only to be rediscovered in the late 16th century.

The city was lost and forgotten about, but several excavations have been conducted over the years.

471-473, 512 Partial excavations
1592 Architect Domenico Fontana
1693 Giuseppe Macrini & Francesco Picchetti
1748 Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre
1763 The inscription “Rei Publicae Pompeianorum’ was found at the site, and Pompeii was identified
1749 Karl Weber - the first scientific excavations
1764 Francesco la Vega
1804 Franscisco la Vega’s brother, Pietro
1863 Guiseppe Fiorelli
1920 Amedeo Maiuri
1980 A severe earthquake hit which causing more destruction.

Since the 1980’s excavations have been conducted on a smaller scale in more detail with more documentation.

Whilst Guiseppe Fiorelli was excavating Pompeii he realised that voids were left by the decomposition of the people who died in the eruption, he developed a technique to pour liquid plaster into cavities, when set they excavated the area, you can see the casts in glass boxes to one side of the main square with other artefacts.

Today, scientists use the same technique with resin, they can tell the age, sex and health of the remains found inside. They have also tried to digitally reconstruct the faces of the people.

Giuseppe Fiorelli was also responsible for dividing the city into districts and the numbering of the houses; his successors uncovered the west of the city.

Only two-thirds of Pompeii has been properly excavated by archaeologists and is still being unearthed today. Pompeii has suffered from looters and treasure hunters, including tourists looking for a souvenir; luckily, authorities repossessed items and sent them back to Pompeii.

The ash preserved buildings, artwork, and even the final moments of its inhabitants, whose forms were recreated using plaster casts.

The remains at Pompeii are so well preserved due to the speed at which they were buried by volcanic debris, providing a lack of moisture, air and other pollutants. In just one day, Mount Vesuvius turned the surrounding area into a ghost town, the port was gone, and the landscape changed.

A lot of the buildings still stand as they were in the day, restoration work that started in 1978 and was far from complete in 2008 when the Italian government declared a state of emergency at Pompeii due to the state of its disrepair.

Paintings and stone that had survived all those years had been left to deteriorate by the weather, pollution and tourists. This started a year-long project to restore the city to its former glory using like-for-like items such as the wooden doors and roofs.

UNESCO claimed Pompeii would be placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger if conservation works “fail to deliver substantial progress in the next two years”.

Today, only about two-thirds of Pompeii has been excavated, but what’s visible paints a complete and haunting picture of Roman life, right down to the graffiti on the walls and loaves of bread still in ancient ovens.

Final Thoughts

Pompeii is more than just an archaeological site—it’s a city frozen in time, offering a rare and moving glimpse into the lives, routines, and tragedies of an ancient civilisation. Whether you’re a history buff or just curious, it’s a must-see destination that will leave you in awe of the past and the resilience of human stories.

A Day in Pompeii, Italy